Ingredients

Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2-inch knob of ginger, thinly sliced
6 cups of low-sodium chicken stock, reduced to 2 cups
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
Fine sea salt and fresh white pepper

Shrimp
40 large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2 tablespoons melted butter

Garnish
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and cut
into medium dice
1 ripe avocado, cut into quarter-inch dice
16 cilantro leaves, julienned
Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. To make the broth: Melt the butter over medium heat, add the shallots and garlic, and sweat until translucent. Add the lemongrass and ginger and cook until tender, taking care not to brown. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, lower the temperature, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, place on a baking sheet, brush with butter, and cook in the oven for about 4 minutes or until pink. Meanwhile, place the tomato dice around 8 soup bowls. Dice the avocado as close to serving time as possible to prevent it from browning, and distribute among the bowls. To serve: Quickly heat the prepared bowls in the oven. Reheat the reserved sauce over medium heat and check the seasoning. Place 5 shrimp in each bowl to form a pinwheel. Spoon 1⁄3 cup of the sauce over the shrimp and squeeze lime juice over all the bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. (Published 2005)